Lumbar Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis eMedicine

Description: Author: Beth B Froese, MD, Consulting Staff, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Orthopaedic Associates of DuPage Ltd
Synonyms and related keywords: spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, spinal abnormality, spinal disfunction, SCI, spinal cord injury, low back pain, LBP, disk pain, disc pain, discogenic pain, diskogenic pain
Spondylolysis is a defect in the pars interarticularis that may or may not be accompanied by forward translation of one vertebra relative to another (spondylolisthesis). Wiltse, Macnab, and Newman developed a classification to help outline causes of vertebral translation in an anterior direction. Their categories include the following:

Type I: Congenital spondylolisthesis
Type II: Isthmic spondylolisthesis
Type III: Degenerative spondylolisthesis
Type IV: Traumatic spondylolisthesis
Type V: Pathologic spondylolisthesis